Episode 17 of the GopherCraft Great Space Race is three flights of Mun Lander I. The first try for the Mun runs short on fuel and turns into a landing test on Kerbin. The second comes down in the water at night. The third reaches orbit with a new crew, and the video stops with a short burn toward the Mun still ahead. No Mun landing yet.
A shortcut to the Mun
"As promised, here is Munlander 1, ready in the launchpad." Jebediah Kerman's portrait sits in the corner as it lifts off. On the map, a maneuver node Basket meant for a plain orbit already runs into the Mun. "Is this already an encounter with a Mun?" It is a two minute burn, and Basket goes for it.
Partway through, Basket stops. "It looked like we weren't gonna have enough fuel." Basket calls it "a lesson learned, not a failed mission." Next time: a regular orbit first.
A landing test on Kerbin
With the craft headed back down anyway, Basket tries to steer toward the south pole for science, then uses the descent as practice. Mun Lander I drops through the atmosphere in a sheet of reentry flame, and Basket throttles up to slow it. "It's pretty hard to steer," but it slows. "I think that that's a good enough proof of concept." The landing legs go down, the parachutes open, and it settles upright on the grass.
The crew report comes from the highlands, where Basket already has data, so the vessel is recovered. The Tracking Station lists Orbit IX as orbiting the Mun and Orbit V as orbiting Kerbin.
Into the water
Basket keeps the design as it is. The crew screen puts Jebediah in the Command Pod Mk1, with Hanvan Kerman and Obbo Kerman in the Mobile Processing Lab. This time the plan is "a regular sized orbit" around Kerbin first.
The launch wobbles but makes it to space. Then time warp jumps far faster than expected. "That was really sped up." Rather than spend fuel fixing the orbit, Basket lets it come down. Mun Lander I falls through the dark under its parachutes and blows apart when it reaches the water.
The Science Summary lists a "Crew Report from Kerbin's Water" and "Recovery of a vessel after a sub-orbital flight," both +0.0, and shows Science: 19. "Somehow Jebediah still survived." Basket checks the crew: "Yes, we lost two guys." Hanvan and Obbo are gone from the crew list. The lesson: "don't land in the water."
Third try
At the Astronaut Complex, Basket hires Thompvin Kerman and Enzer Kerman ("we need some crazy people on this mission"), and they ride in the lab beside Jebediah. The video picks up with the orbit burn under way. "Adding on that extra fuel tank might have messed up this particular design." It makes orbit around Kerbin anyway.
A node toward the Mun needs about 30 seconds of burning. When it ends: "I think it didn't work." Basket drags out another one.
Where it ends
The new node is a 74.5 m/s burn, estimated at two seconds, about an hour away. "That's a two-second burn, which we can probably do easily." Basket plans to speed up time to just before it, and the end card follows. Mun Lander I is in orbit around Kerbin with Jebediah, Thompvin and Enzer aboard.